Johto Legends: Umbreon, I choose you?
by Doskias
Summary: Matt, an unambitious student, has one goal: he wants more than anything to evolve his Eevee into an Umbreon, even if it costs him his grades, his friends, and his sanity. And, in the end, will what he gets really be what he wants?
1. Chapter 1

**Johto Legends  
Umbreon, I choose you?**

_Author's Notes: In a rare fit of creative frenzy, I actually wrote the entirety of this story last night (6/20/07) while thinking about how to expand on my Legends universe, and hitting a creative roadblock with my Viridian Trio story. The events of this story actually reflect (though obviously very loosely) my "real-life" experiences in Pokémon Gold, all those many years ago when the idea of a dark or light Eevee-lution was beyond belief. _

**Chapter 1**

"-known by his friends and colleagues simply as 'Bill,' this young scientist is set to revolutionize modern trainers' daily lives." Ms. Matilda paced in front of her desk, gazing across the sea of three dozen faces set before her in the crowded classroom. Her eyes locked on one teenager, a brown-haired boy whose head rested awkwardly on his palms. She shook her head and approached his desk. She cleared her throat loudly, offering the only warning the boy was entitled to. She raised her yard stick and slammed it on his desk, inches from his face.

"Disco good!" the boy shouted with a start, and quickly realized where he was. "Oh, no..." He felt the eyes of all of classmates on him, and he shuffled uncomfortably in his chair.

"Well, Matthew, now that you've decided to join us, perhaps you'd like to give us your thoughts on the possible civillian applications of Bill's revolutionary new storage technology?"

Matthew - or Matt, as everyone_ but_ Ms. Matilda seemed to call him - scratched the back of his head. "Uh, I wouldn't need to keep finding space for all of my tapes?" The comment elicited a few chuckles from around the room (far below his typical reception), and it brought a scornful look from Ms. Matilda.

The middle-aged teacher opened her mouth to scold the impudent teen further, but she was halted by the ringing of the three o'clock bell. The other students stood - nearly in unison - and began the mad dash for the door, and their freedom. "People," Ms. Matilda started, "Don't forget your 'Ethics of Battling' essays are due when you come back on Monday!" She turned back to Matt, who was sliding his books from underneath the the desk. "_No exceptions_, " she warned coldly.

Matt wasn't worried, though - essays and homework were the last things on his mind at the moment. He had far more important things to worry about - he had to give Disco its time to shine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Johto Legends  
Umbreon, I choose you?**

_Author's Notes: Not a lot to say here, just read, enjoy, and review!_

**Chapter 2**

"Mom, I'm home!" Matt shouted up the stairway of and dropped his backpack next to the coat rack. Not waiting for a response from either of his parents, he raced down the basement stairs and into his living space - the finished, furnished basement of his split-level home.

He draped his uniform jacket over a brown bookshelf (one overflowing with audio cassettes) and threw himself onto his overstuffed sofa. He only allowed himself time enough for a few deep breaths, though - preparations had to be made. He got up and tore his tie off, and stripped out of his school uniform. He replaced his black slacks with faded bluejeans, and his dress shirt with with a blue tee. He stuffed his hair beneath a flame-emblazoned do-rag, and laced up his high-top sneakers.

Only one piece of prep work was left - the polished, shining Pokéball that rested beneath a glass jewel case. He eased the glass top up, and snatched the ball from underneath. Fidgeting with the expansion button, he strolled to his full-length mirror. "Far out," he remarked, surprisingly pleased with his apperance - you could barely tell he'd only had ten hours of sleep since Monday.

He turned from the mirror and raced back up the stairs. He snagged his father's favorite leather jacket from the coat rack and called out, "I'm going out! Don't wait up!"

* * *

The Goldenrod City Shopping Mall was one of two of its kind in the region, and it was by far the biggest and most expansive. It's defining feature, in Ali Palermo's mind, was the food court. It was school-away-from-school, in a strange way - nearly all of Goldenrod High (students and faculty alike) would congregate there on a Friday afternoon. 

She sipped on her milkshake and observed the hustle and bustle around her. A fight breaking out near the closest burger joint caught her attention long enough that she didn't notice at first when Matt sat down and attached himself to her milkshake. "Hey!" she exclaimed and snatched it away. "Get your own!"

"Sorry, babe, but I need the energy." Matt's pleading look convinced Ali to relinquish control of the shake to him. When he was finished (and, incidentally, so was the shake) he leaned across the table and kissed her. "You want another one? I'm going to get another one - got a big night again."

Her eyes widened. "You're not! Aw, Matt, you promised me; 'Blood of the Were-lithe' is playing at the drive-in tonight!"

"I know, but tonight's the night - I can feel it. It's ready!"

"You've been saying that for a month, and all that's happened so far is you've pushed me off every time!"

Matt sighed and took Ali's hands in his. "Babe, I promise you - it's going to happen for me tonight. I'm sure of it. And tomorrow? I'll take you to the double-feature at Sunny's. It'll be great!"

Ali exhaled. "Are you for real this time?"

"I swear it, babe. Would I like to my best girl?" Matt took note of Ali's brow lifting, and he said "Okay, maybe you shouldn't answer that."

* * *

As Matt neared the edge of the city and the path to the Ilex Forest came into view, he pulled the Pokéball from his inner pocket. "Disco, go!" He threw the ball outward, and a young Eevee burst out in a flash of crimson light. Matt slid the ball into his jacket pocket and knelt beside the foot-tall Pokémon. "Disco, I need you more than ever tonight - you have to come through for me, okay?" The Pokémon's dark eyes met its trainers. "I can feel it - tonight's the night you evolve, and I'll have my very own Umbreon." 


	3. Chapter 3

**Johto Legends  
Umbreon, I choose you?**

_Author's Notes: This is the finalé, the close, the end to the story of Disco and Matt. It was short (hopefully sweet) and maybe a bit too predictable, but as far as complete works that I've written in the space of five hours go, I'll have to call this a good one._

**Chapter 3**

The night passed as most had for the past five weeks - Disco trained and trained, subjected to all manners of battles with all varieties of strange Pokémon. After each victory, Disco could hear its trainer pray that this would be the moment when the Eevee finally made the Change - finally became something new, something called "Umbreon."

Disco didn't know what an Umbreon was, or why its trainer was so intent on making it change into one, but in its short time with the human, it formed a strong bond with him, and his goals quickly became Disco's. Matthew had briefly explained to Disco that Umbreon was, "by far, the grooviest Pokémon to ever walk the Johto region." And when Growlithe, a Pokémon bonded to Matthew's father, found Disco wandering outside a place called Union Cave, it was apparently clear to Matthew that his destiny - and the young Eevee's - was ready to come into fruition.

To that end, Disco and Matthew trained together every night - and their wins far outweighed their losses. Each night they'd travel deeper into Ilex Forest, challenging everyone they saw with unmatched ferocity - it earned Matthew a reputation with the other humans as something of an oddball. Disco once even overheard Matt's own parents voicing their concern about him - about how his "grades were slipping," and he was "alienating his friends." Disco didn't know what any of this meant, but it knew it was bad, and so it too was concerned for its trainer's welfare.

* * *

It was a tiresome thing, waiting, but that's exactly what Ryan Salazar planned to do. After having his reputation ruined - not once, but twice - by that loser insomniac and his pipsqueak of an Eevee, Ryan had to do something to regain what he lost. As he knelt on a high branch in a tall tree, he questioned whether his chosen course of action was necessary (or even wise), but pushed all those thoughts aside. He knew it would, at least, boost his self-esteem. 

Checking his watch, Ryan grinned. Sunrise wasn't far away - it wouldn't be long now.

* * *

When sunlight finally began to break through the trees, Disco relished the warmth of a sunbeam on his bushy fur. It eased his battle-worn joints, and he stretched out his pained muscles. When Matthew finished marking a nearby tree, Disco knew it was only a matter of time before it went back to the Dark - another night spent, and Matthew still didn't have what he want. 

It was no fault of Disco's, though. It'd won every match it participated in - even narrowly beating the near feral raticate early in their training session. It didn't understand what kept their goal so far out of reach, and apparently Matthew didn't understand either.

They walked together back toward the beaten path, near the forest's exit. Disco knew the routine from here - it would go back into the Dark, it's "Pokéball," and Matthew would trek back home, alone, and both would wait for the next night to repeat the cycle.

But wait - what was that noise? Disco's fur stood on end and it yelped at Matthew - in time to alert him to the danger, but not in time for him to dodge the large human that fell from the tree. The attacker knocked Disco's beloved trainer to the ground, and used the confusion to allow himself time to stand up and viciously assault him. A final kick relieved Matthew of the last air in his lungs, and he crumpled in a heap.

As the assailant, the enemy, muttered something under his breath and slid Matthew's wallet from his rear pocket, Disco growled and readied itself. It launched into a tackle attack, hitting the enemy from the rear. "Oof!" the human grunted, shocked, and he spun around to face the small fighter. Scowling, he snatched a Pokéball from his own belt and tossed it, "Crobat, go!" He turned tail and began to speed off as a leathery, purple mess of wings and teeth emerged in a flash of light. "Take care of this pipsqueak, and meet me at the cabin!"

The Crobat shrieked, flying lazy circles around Disco, and the bushy-tailed Eevee dug in and growled. It was a shameful thing, to use a Pokémon as a tool for petty crimes, and while Disco held no quarrel with Crobat, it knew that defeating it was the key to retrieving Matthew's stolen property.

So, Disco kicked up a cloud of dirt and waited for Crobat to make its move.

* * *

Matt's lungs burned as he gasped for air, only dimly aware that something important was happening. When the stars and circles finally cleared from his eyes, his mind snapped back into focus. In the clearing ahead, he witnessed Disco squaring off with a strange flying Pokémon. _Zu... Gol... Crobat!_ Matt's Eevee kicked dust in Crobat's eyes, and the leathery menace swooped down for a tackle. It connected, forcing Disco back a few feet. Disco shrugged off the shock, and kicked yet more dust in Crobat's eyes. 

_Disco's trying to blind it _, Matt realized as he brought himself up on one knee. _Clever fox - I never had it use sand attack before_. Crobat's flying became clumsier, and Disco was able to leap and connect more tackles and quick attacks. The fight was clearly going Disco's way - and one last tackle that met Crobat's skull solidified the Eevee's victory. The winged beast lay on the ground, unable to battle on.

Matt finally pushed himself off the ground and was ready to run to his Pokémon, to congratulate it, but he noticed something odd: Disco was breathing more heavily than normal; it was shaking and its eyes darted from side to side. Without further warning, a dim glow came over Disco, obscuring its features and shape. The mass inside the glow began to change, and when it faded, a new creature sat in the Eevee's place.

The new being was a full foot taller than a normal Eevee, and it had replaced its bushy brown fur with a lavender velvet coat. The formerly thick tail had thinned considerably, and split at the end. The ears were elongated and came to a sharper point, and it traded its mane for thick whiskers. The most jarring detail, though, was the oval-shaped ruby on its forehead.

This new creature, the new Disco, regarded Matt with the same curiousity the human held for it. It looked as though a question was forming in its mind - an expression Matt had always thought was reserved for humans.

Suddenly, the jewel on Disco's forehead glowed dimly, and then brightly, and the evolved Pokémon darted off into the forest with the grace and speed of a showman's Persian.

"Wha-wait!" Matt called out, and clumsily chased after his Pokémon. For the first time since he'd met Disco, he worried that pushing the Pokémon so hard was a mistake, that perhaps this new creature wasn't the same friend to him that it had been as an Eevee.

That fear was quickly put to rest, however, when he saw the spectacle that awaited him in the next clearing.

* * *

Disco struggled to keep its newfound power focused on the task at hand: keeping the human enemy suspended until Matthew could come and retrieve his possessions. The jewel on its forehead glowed with an alien brilliance, and it began to pant, as though it was exerting a physical force. 

The imprisoned human struggled and cursed, futilely attempted to frighten Disco into releasing him, but to no avail. Disco stood its ground until it heard a rustling from the edge of the clearing.

"Disco, that's enough," Matthew commanded. "Let him down."

With a hard gasp, Disco let go of his increasingly tenuous hold on the enemy human, satisfied with the sound he made when he hit the ground. He scrambled to his feet quickly, and eyed Matthew warily.

Matthew's eyes burned with a fire that Disco had never seen in its trainer before, and simply stated, "Wallet," in a low growl. "Now.

The enemy nodded and dropped Matthew's wallet by his feet. "Now go."

And go he did - the human was out of sight within five seconds, and out of the range of Disco's senses in forty.

Matthew pocketed his wallet and regarded Disco once more. "Espeon, eh?" Disco's ears perked up. "Way groovier than any Umbreon." Satisfied with this, Disco threw itself against Matthew's legs as a Meowth would, and received a series of affectionate scratches behind the ears. "Let's get out of here, buddy."

And just like that, the two were off, walking side-by-side down the path that led out of Ilex Forest, and back to their home in Goldenrod.

"By the way - if Dad asks, we have _no idea _ how his jacket got ruined."

**End.**

_More notes: Okay, so it was a bit of a rushed ending - and I could've expanded on Ryan's motivations a little more, but overall I think this was a solid piece of fiction. I hope you think so too, and if you do, tell me so. If you don't, tell me that too!_


End file.
